Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Sky: Explorers of the Future Past
by JustAnotherRunner5
Summary: A future broken. A past on the brink of destruction. A girl with visions. A boy with a past. A teenager with a hope. A self proposed girlfriend with a secret. A mad god. A sacrifice of everything. A Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Fanfic. You might have heard the story, do you know what was left untold?
1. Chapter 1

Hi, Five here. This is the story I'm writing for NaNoWriMo, and I'm going to be posting the fruits of each days labor onto FanFiction for all you fine folks to read. Yes, this will include spoilers, in case you didn't realize that. This is the story of what happened before Grovyle/Hero started time traveling, how they met, and so forth.

I don't own Pokemon, in case you were wondering :P

* * *

Where does this story begin… You may be thinking "Ally, since you're writing the story, shouldn't you already know where it begins?" The answer to that is.. well, kind of. You see, I'm trying to remember it myself. I got amnesia about a year ago, but that's a whole other story to tell. The one I'm trying to tell is how my friend and I both started our mission to save the world. But where does it start? Ah yes, the Bazaar. This story starts at a Bazaar.

* * *

Ally rubbed her fingers together nervously, casting a glance around her but staying in the shadows. Her brown hair, ratty on one side, was perfectly brushed on the other due to years of running her hand through her hair. She sighed, rubbing her eyes and swinging her backpack onto her shoulders. She knew that any shopkeeper would try to cheat her out of all her money, purely because of her small stature. She needed those berries though. She stood up, straightening her shoulders and raising her head, and started into the bazaar. A few Pokemon pointed at her and whispered to their friends 'Look, a human!' 'I'll bet they're on the run from Dialga.' However, she went mostly unnoticed, which was good. Ally scanned the line of stands and selected a particularly less used one in the corner manned by a Weavile. Ally paced lightly over, her woolen boots adding hardly any noise to the general chatter of the Bazaar. The Weavile glanced up as she approached, spinning a crudely cut wooden top.

"What do you want." The Weavile spoke the words loudly in Commontounge, pronouncing each syllable. Inside, Ally seethed. Most Pokemon thought that humans were idiots. Little did they know that she knew most of the types languages well enough to get by, and she knew more Commontounge then most.  
"Berries, if you are willing to sell." Ally pronunciated back loudly. The Weavile glared at her cooly, still spinning the top.

"And what if I am not?" The Weavile pronunciated back, clearly not interested in selling. Ally's hand shot out, grabbing the Weavile's collar and dragging him across the counter. She vaguely wondered what language to use. Dark, she decided. Her Ice pronunciation was horrible anyways.

"You'd better be." She hissed back quickly in perfect Dark. She shoved him back across the counter, and he stumbled, having to grab onto one of his own stakes to make himself not topple over fully. The Weavile glared at her.

"What do you want to buy." He shot back in Dark, his heavy southern accent blurring the words together. They started the bargaining process.

"Two Oran, one Rawst, five Apples. 800 poke."

"One Oran, one Rawst, three Apples. 1650 poke." He countered.

"One Oran, one Rawst, four Apples, 1300 poke."

"One Oran, one Rawst, three Apples, 1350 poke."

It was a horrible deal, but she had to take it. Without the apples, she wouldn't be able to get to the destination. Without the Oran, she might not be alive long enough to use the apples. The Rawst was just for treating wounds. Long past was the time when you could make a journey without getting some sort of wound. Ally's body was a map of scars, long ones on her back from when Sableye almost caught her, burn scars on her feet and hands that had slightly faded in the years since she had gotten them, and tiny cuts all over her body from when she accidentally challenged an Absol tribe's territory.

"One Oran, one Rawst, three Apples, 1350 poke." She agreed, setting her backpack on the ground to fish out her poke. Just as she found her money bag, something green raced by her, instantly blending into the crowd.

"Thief!" Someone called, and instantly the whole bazaar shrunk back to the stalls, forming a wall so the thief couldn't escape. That was when Ally got her first good look at him. He was a relatively mid-sized Grovyle, his leaves nicked countless times, with a challenging look in his eye. He had two bags on his shoulders, one was obviously his, and the other was, most likely, the one he had stolen. He shifted into a fighting stance, ready to fight everyone in the bazaar to get out. Ally felt a strange… kinship with him. She to had to fight most everyone she met just to get by. There was no 'easy life' anymore. Before he could start fighting though, another voice entered the ring.

"Wheh heh heh heh…" The Grovyle froze.

"Sableye…" Ally muttered, taking a step back. She was generally considered a hunter solely because she was a human, and the fact that the downfall of time killed almost all of the remaining humans.

Diaga's lieutenant stepped forward. The espeon had one eye covered in a gray bandage, the other was a vivid red. Her fur, which should be silky smooth, was instead a muddy brown, with only faint recognizance of pink. The half blind espeon hissed. "Grovyle, Grovyle, Grovyle the thief. We've been chasing you for a very long time. How nice for you to let us finally catch up."

Grovyle finally spoke. "How nice for you to finally show your ugly face."

The espeon's one visible eye glowed a deep crimson. "Now why don't you hand the bag over, and no one gets hurt." The espeon glanced at a small Azurill hiding behind his older sister, a Marill, who was glaring at the espeon with loathing. The espeon's eye glowed, and the Azurill screamed in pain. The Marill shot a water gun at the lieutenant, who simply deflected it with psychic power towards Grovyle, who dodged.

"Stop!" He shouted. The Azurill's screams stopped.

"Hand the bag over." The Espeon said cooly. Grovyle shook his head stubbornly. Suddenly, he was yanked off his feet by the bag that Espeon was trying to get. The bag was being pulled by psychic power towards Espeon. Its strap ripped, and Grovyle braced himself against the ground, visibly leaning backwards, his hands wrapped around the straps of the bag. The pressure pulling the bag suddenly released, and Grovyle went tumbling backwards, the bag shooting over his head. The bag soared over the heads of the crowd. Ally raced backwards and snatched it out of the air. The Grovyle leapt back up, trying to see who had his bag, when the Espeon, seeing an opening, leapt on top of him, her paw raised in a killing strike. "Now is the time when you finally stop escaping death." She slammed her paw down, but Grovyle twisted his head so her paw slammed into the ground. A ball of green light formed between his hands and shot upwards into the Espeon's vulnerable stomach. He rolled sideways, tossing the eeveelutions body off of his, and raced towards Ally, his eyes wide in panic. The espeon cut him off, launching herself onto his back and ripping at his flesh with her claws. "You're not getting away again." She hissed. Two Sableye helped her hold him down. He kept struggling. The espeon's eye glared at her. "Hand over the bag, human" She spat out the last word. "Or the same will happen to you."

The Grovyle's eyes locked on hers, pleading. There is something in that bag worth dying for, his eyes seemed to tell her. Don't give it to these monsters.

"I don't think so, you monsters." Ally slipped her slingshot out of her pocket, putting in a warp seed. She took a half step forward and casted, the seed rocketing out of the pouch. Grovyle caught the seed in his mouth and disappeared. The Espeon howled in agony, her eye glaring in pure malice. Ally reached into Grovyle's bag and shattered a random orb. Espeon charged towards her, and Ally turned and sprinted away, turning off into an old trail into the woods. The Espeon rocketed after her, easily catching up with her and tackling her to the ground. When she slashed Ally's throat however, the human just disappeared. The espeon screamed in frustration. How could she be fooled by a decoy orb? Suddenly cursing her stupidity, she scanned the surrounding area for any signs of that dratted human. She was running to the southeast, very quickly. She must have had a quick seed in there too. Espeon could sense the Sableye congregating behind her, wondering where the human was. She turned to them.

"We may have lost the thief. But we shall make the girl pay for his treachery."

* * *

Ally was running away, her movements enhanced by the quick seed she had used. She didn't know how far she needed to be to lose them. She did know that she had to stop and catch her breath though. She collapsed on a convenient rock, which wasn't as convenient as it looked, because it was actually a very annoyed golem. She had to run again, this time with an angry golem on her tail. Her feet pounding on the ground, she leaped across a stream, which got the golem off her tail. She finally sat down, opening her bag to take out her map to figure out where she was, when she realized that she didn't have her bag. Ally thought back to the stall, and how she put down her bag when she grabbed her money bag. Then it was gone when she was watching the confrontation. Ally laughed, only slightly annoyed. Grovyle had stolen her bag. And she had his bag. She dug through his bag, trying to find a map that must be in his bag. She finally found it, a torn, stained, slightly burnt piece of parchment that must have once been a beautiful representation to Aukous, but now just looked like a dirty piece of parchment. The contents had been retraced so many times that it was hard to tell where the coastline was exactly, but that wasn't what made the map special. There was dozens of tiny scrawled notes, some scratched out, others that had been underlined and circled in feverish excitement. But somehow, Ally got the feeling that this wasn't what Grovyle had been trying to hide. She dumped the contents of the bag on the ground. It held an extraordinary amount of stuff. One piece of oddly shaped blue rock bounced off the small heap. It looked… almost like a third of a gear. She reached out to pick it up, and as soon as her finger caressed the stone, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her vision turned black, then a blinding white. Ally smiled. She would get to see the beautiful world again. Then, seeing her usual desaturated world again, she frowned. Why wasn't she seeing that world again? She suddenly saw Grovyle again, and called out to him, but he didn't answer. It seemed almost that he.. couldn't hear her. So she was having a vision. But she wasn't seeing the other world. Grovyle's eyes lit up as he spotted something on the ground and sprinted toward it, and just as he touched it, the vision faded and she was left, sitting on the dewy grass. There was something about that stone. Ally pulled her sleeve over her hand, picked up the stone and put it back in the bag. She had to keep that safe. It held the key to her visions, she somehow knew. The rest of the contents were less interesting. Bandages, Oran berries, Apples, Pecha berries, Rawst berries, a random handful of poke. He was much better off than she was. She still had a better map. Ally unfolded the map again, trying to see through the untidy scrawl. She finally figured out where an ocean was, which was progress. After another ten minutes of attempted reading, she eventually gave up and folded it up, shoving it into Grovyle's bag. She knew that obsidian cave was about six miles to the south east. Too bad she didn't have her Northfinder. That was also in her bag. Ally glanced at the thick cloud cover that was always present. She finally decided that it was going from right to left, and adjusted her course so she was running more to the east and set off. Ally had to figure out what was there. All of her visions were leading her there. But just what was there?

* * *

Grovyle glanced around, standing up. He seemed to be in a relatively safe place, but you never knew. He did know that he needed to get that time gear fragment back. It was a too important piece of history to be left in the hands of a kid. Grovyle dumped the contents of her bag on the ground. There was a pitiful little amount of stuff. One orb rolled out, Two apples, half an oran berry and what looked to be the moldy remains of a pecha berry. A map bounced of the slightly bruised berries, and he unrolled it. There was no notes on this map, just little marks all over it that looked like tiny stars. There was a key in the top left, and he glanced at it. Underneath the normal, river, creek, mountain, there was the star thing. Vision, it read. What could that mean? He wondered. Then he realized he might have put the most important piece of history in the hands of a nut job. Good judgment call. Most of the location names had other names underneath, for instance, underneath Petrified forest was Treeshroud forest. That area had lots of tiny star marks around it too. Grovyle grinned mischievously. He knew what was hidden there. One of the five time gears, the time gear fragment he had had. Grovyle noticed all the little notes pointing towards Obsidian Cave, where, underneath was the name Limestone cave. Grovyle wondered for a moment if she was a hunter too, then instantly dismissed the thought. She couldn't be a hunter. She was just a kid, she looked like she couldn't be older than ten. She wasn't a hunter. She did have courage, he admitted. Most Pokemon he met would have turned it over to Espeon. He hoped that she had gotten herself out too. Espeon… wouldn't be happy he got away.

Grovyle packed the meager supplies back into the backpack. He picked up the orb and studed it. Radar orb. Grovyle rubbed the surface, wondering if he could use it to track the girl even if he didn't know what her name was. Grovyle scanned the map before he saw the crudely written signature 'Ally Newis' scrawled in the corner. Grovyle rubbed the surface of the orb. "Ally." He spoke clearly. The orb sparked, and small map appeared on the surface. Grovyle saw the beacon that represented Ally, which wasn't too far away. Grovyle shouldered the backpack and raced toward the beacon.

* * *

Ally was almost there. She could feel it. She could feel the charged feeling that she always got from a vision already. A part of the puzzle was here. Little did she know that she was being tracked. The Espeon grinned maliciously. "Let her get to Obsidian Cave. We'll corner her there." Her squadron of Sableye cackled behind her. This was going to be good. They were almost there. "Get into a semicircle around the mouth of the cave." She barked.

* * *

Something was off. Ally knew that much. She didn't know what. Her feet pounded on the ground as she covered the last half mile. She stopped, panting, at the mouth of the cave. Ally turned around to get one last look at the surrounding area, and spotted the sableye. She swore and turned to run, but they had blocked off all exits. "No escape." The espeon cackled. "Hand over the bag, now. If you do, I won't torture you to death." The espeon's head jewel glowed and shafts of pain shot through Ally, making her scream involuntarily. She fought herself to stop, and succeeded, panting heavily. Ally loaded a iron spike ball in her leather slingshot and cast it at Espeon, who simply shot it back at her. Ally simply swayed out of the way. The espeon made her feel like her whole body was on fire, and made painful images shoot through her head. Ally screamed and covered her head.

"Make it stop!" She screamed. If anything, the pain increased. She saw herself killing Grovyle again and again, her hands stained crimson from his blood. She saw herself handing Espeon the time gear. She saw fire, burning, screams, pain. Dizzy with pain, she attempted to cast a spike ball at an advancing Sableye, but it flew extremely wide. She tried again, but the ball simply flopped out of her slingshot. Ally stumbled, and fell to her knees, still desperately trying to fight off the pain and the Sableye.

* * *

He was close to her. He knew. He'd have to explain about the time gear, tell her to never tell anyone about it, then he could just be on his way. They'd forget each other by the end of the week. Grovyle stopped short when he heard the screaming. It wasn't the screaming of a little kid wining about not getting a gummy, it was the screaming of someone who was trying to hide the fact that they were being tortured to death. Grovyle sprinted, one eye on the orb, the other on the path ahead. The screaming abruptly cut off, and he hoped that she hadn't stopped because she had died. He almost was relieved when she started screaming again. It gave him a better guidance point for where she was than the Radar Orb at this point. He reached the top of the cliff when he saw her. She was on both knees, still trying to shoot at the Sableye with her slingshot, but the pain was making it impossible for her to aim. She was still clutching the bag like it was her lifeline. Grovyle leaped off the cliff, charging an energy ball. He landed heavily, launching the energy ball at the ground, making a dust cloud that was impossible to see though. Grovyle snatched the kid off the ground and sprinted into the cave, hoping against hope that there was some sort of other exit. The kid was barely conscious, every once and a while giving vents to little shouts of pain. Grovyle crossed some sort of barrier, and the cave instantly changed. He could see a new passage behind him, and one in front. They had entered a mystery dungeon completely on accident. The kid had passed out at some point, which was probably for the best. Espeon couldn't enter this instance of the dungeon, so they could stay here for awhile. Grovyle wondered if he should explore the rest of the floor, but decided not to. He picked Ally back up and started down a passage, trying to find a room with only one entrance. He found one relatively quickly, and laid the girl in it, sitting next to the entrance. He wondered why he felt protective of the girl, then shook himself. He would just wait until she woke up, then be on his way. She wasn't anything special.

He must have dosed off at some point, because when he woke up, he could see the kid's dark brown eyes staring at him. "You're awake" he stated bluntly.

She nodded, then replied in the same tone. "You're a hunter."

He noticed she had a slight northern accent, even if she tried to hide it. He nodded, then responded in turn. "You're a human."

"You're a Grovyle."

Now was time to get into more serious things. "You have my Time Gear."

The kid raised an eyebrow at the name. "Yes." She replied steadily.

"Give it back." He said simply, extending a hand toward her.

"No." She replied simply.

"You don't know anything about it." He assured, getting annoyed.

"I know more about it than anyone." She replied cooly.

"That thing's my key to saving the world! How dare you-" He broke off, leaping for his bag. He wondered why he had been polite and not just taken it first thing. The girl spun and grabbed it first, pressing it to her chest.

"That thing's MY key to figuring out everything!" Grovyle leaped at his own bag, ripping it open, catching the time gear fragment as it spilled out. The girl leapt at it, grabbing it and almost yanking it out of his hand, but then her grip on it slackened and she looked around. "Oh, not now!" She cried. Grovyle took a few steps backwards. She was just acting so she could get it back. "Wait… but…" She started walking around, almost bumping into a wall multiple times. Grovyle stood, tranfixed, as she seemed to study something that he couldn't see. "There's… something here…" She muttered. Whatever she was seeing seemed to fade, because she looked around and spotted Grovyle. "See! I need that thing to find… whatever its trying to get me to find. It makes me see things! Sometimes colorful world, sometimes this world. I just think, if I could get to whatever its trying to get me to find, I could get to that other world! I could get everyone to that other world, so no one would have to deal with all this horrible stuff!" She said passionately, reaching for the Time Gear fragment, which Grovyle held out of reach.

"What do you see?" He asked skeptically.

"I can see colors splashed across the sky, like those old paintings before they were banned. I saw rain once, cleaning the whole world. At least I think its called rain. It looked like something that was in dad's books. I saw you earlier today, in some sort of forest when you found that." She pointed at the time gear fragment excitedly.

Grovyle looked wide eyed at her. Unlike her, he knew about sunrises and sunsets, rain, and he had indeed found the time gear fragment in a forest. The only catch was, he had found the time gear fragment six months ago, and there hadn't been a sunrise for over two hundred years. She was seeing things months and years in the past. He knew what she had.

"Dimensional Scream" He muttered.

"What?" She asked.

"That's what you have. Dimensional Scream." He said, in a tone that implied that explained everything.

"Well, that clears up everything. Why I can't touch that stone without seeing something. What that stone even is. What world I can see. Why everyone I meet wants to kill me!" Her voice rose to a high pitch.

Grovyle took a step backwards. "Hey, I've been hunted most of my life because I'm trying to save the world! After five years of searching, I finally find one time gear. Then I find some kid who can see the past, and has been unknowingly running around time gears for the sole purpose of 'seeing another world again' not even realizing that she's seeing the past I'd die to change!"

Ally stumbled backwards. "You're trying to change the past? I thought you were a hunter!"

"What do you think all hunters are trying to do? See little pictures of the past?!" Grovyle roared. "We're trying to make it so this!" He gestured to the gray walls of the cavern "Never happens!"

"Well I'm sorry!" She shouted back. "I've been running around the continent trying to escape a stupid Dusclops that's trying to catch me. My parents died because of them. I'd like to at least accomplish something good in life instead of running around, just trying to survive. If that's not a 'good enough' thing to attempt to do for you, then, well, I don't know if anything is for you!" She stormed out the exit behind Grovyle, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders as she left.

* * *

She was furious. She had been trying to make the world a better place, and following her visions seemed like a good way to do it. Ally rounded a corner and found what she was looking for. Stairs. She climbed to the next floor and began her search for the stairs again. The… Gall of that Grovyle. To suggest that she was doing this for her own pleasure! Sure, they were usually more pleasant than the world she lived in, but that wasn't the reason she was doing it. He thought that he was so much better just because he had titled himself 'hunter'. If she was trying to do it too, albeit subconsciously, then she was a hunter too! She was just as good as he was!

* * *

Seven floors down, Grovyle was finally starting to admit that he might have said something wrong. Twelve floors down he started to question his reasons for saying it at all. By the seventeenth floor, he was sorry he had spoken at all. He was just jealous that a little kid had an amazing ability and hadn't even used it. He reached the end of the dungeon and looked around. He could see the kid examining a wall, then just… stepping through it. Grovyle ran over and placed a hand on the wall. It fell right through. Grovyle held his breath and stepped through. He stepped into another cavern with strange carvings all over the walls. Ally was tracing a finger across a carving. "It's sad…" She said, trailing off. Ally turned toward him, but didn't see him. Grovyle realized she must be having another Dimensional Scream vision. "To be trapped in here until you starved. You couldn't leave… You were protecting something… The thing I'm looking for. What is it?" The kid ran her hand through her hair. "Oh I just wish I knew. I can see the things, but I don't even know what they do. What was so important you couldn't even leave when you were starving?" The vision seemed to end, because she sat on the ground, still not spotting Grovyle. "Someone else has been here." She announced suddenly. "A long time ago. I don't know what this footprint is, but… that one's an Exploud… We're they hunters? I can't tell the things I need to know." Ally banged her head against the wall of the cavern. Grovyle stood uncertantly in the shadows.

"Exploud and Sunflora were famous hunters almost two hundred years ago." He stated simply. Ally started, jumping to her feet. "They disappeared off the face of the earth more than a hundred years ago. They were a part of the group that started hunting for the Time Gears. No one ever knew if they found any Time Gears. None of them really left behind records except for one of them. He wasn't an 'official' part of their guild, but he did help them a lot. Austin Newits. A Lucario"

"Austin Newits? Austin Jay Newits? That Austin?"

Grovyle looked at her curiously, surprised she recognized the name. "What about him?"

Ally laughed, relaxing against the wall. "He was my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather."


	2. Chapter 2

For those wondering what in the world this is, its how Austin died. Austin was the partner, and I was experimenting on how he would be different if he never met Ally. So basically I shot him out of the same character development cannon. Backwards. So, no, this isn't continuing on the story line of yesterdays. I will be continuing that tomorrow though. I just got stuck not knowing what to write, then this happened. I'll stick it into my NaNo somehow. You're stuck with this today though (Cause I'm too lazy to write anything more tonight :P) Warning, this is really depressing. At least for me. I might just be a very emotional person though :P

* * *

Austin crouched just beneath the ridge, his paws furiously sketching a map of the sableye camp. His breath was shallow, and his body was practically flat against the ground. His paw trembled as he signed the parchment with his signature, a strange curling design. He was done. The lucario slid back down the slope, shakily getting to his feet and sprinting toward the cover of the forest. He had done it. He hadn't been caught. No one had even seen him. Little did he know, he had been spotted. A Umbreon smirked and rose from his half crouched position. That lucario was a part of that guild group, he just knew it. The umbreon stalked the Lucario, always out of sight, just a gliding shadow indistinguishable from the foliage. The Lucario paused at the crest of the next hill, and he spotted his stalker. The lucario turned to run, but the Umbreon was already on him. Austin tried vainly to fight off his attacker, but he wasn't strong enough. "Lets see what the boss wants to do with you…" The umbreon hissed. Sableye, wondering why their boss had abandoned his position, flocked in to carry the prisoner back to base.

* * *

Austin tried yet again to break the bars, and yet again, failed. The Lucario slumped against the wall of his prison. He was never getting out. He was going to die in here.

* * *

It was his third week in there. Being awake was torture, being asleep was even worse. Nothing ever happened. His research notes had been confiscated. He had nothing.

* * *

Four an a half weeks had passed. He wanted everything to just stop. He wanted to give up, but some faint, forgotten memory begged him not to. Some one telling him to never give up. They were dead though. Everyone was dead. The world had died.

* * *

Five weeks had passed. Five eternities. Thirty five forever. Nothing changed. Then everything changed. A small crash came distantly to his ears. The sound of bickering floated across the stale air toward him. "Oh just shut up." One voice said sharply.

A male voice imitated her. "Oh just shut up." His voice got excited "Oh she must have been meaning you, Krys, after all, I'm her faaavvoorritteee"

"Shut up" The other voice snapped. "You're not even an official member of the team."

"Actually, He is Krys. Neither of you are going to be on this team for much longer if you don't shut up." This finally made them fall silent. "Do you even remember what we're looking for?"

"Lucario, Name's Austin, Not an official member of Wigglytuffs Guild, but they still want us to break him out, Burn scar on left paw."

"What she said." The male voice replied.

They were looking for him, they were actually looking for him! Austin walked up to the bars and peeked out, trying to get a look at them. He briefly considered calling to them, but then decided it would be a bad idea, considering that they might get spotted before they even got to him.

"Take a right up here. I've got a lock on him." The younger female voice, Krys, called. Then, slightly more panicked, she added. "And we've got fourteen sableye closing in!"

"Jade, Krys, Hold this hallway." The deeper female voice ordered, and Austin could hear paws pounding on the unnaturally flat floor of the prison. She rounded the corner, and he finally could see her. A battle worn Zangoose, a long tear in her left ear. "You Austin?"

He nodded, not saying anything.

"Lets get you out of here." The Zangoose raised her paw, a blue sphere glowing in it. "You might want to step back" She warned. Austin obliged. She hurled the orb at ground where the bars connected with the stone. The orb shattered, and there was a sphere of light, then, as it faded, there was nothing where the sphere had been. "Come on, lets go." Austin crawled under the bars, and followed the Zangoose. They sprinted down the hallway, and Austin could see two pokemon, a Absol and a Skitty fighting a small swarm of sableye. The skitty was spinning in a circle so fast she was a ruddy pink blur, and anything that came in contact with her mini tornado was flown back. The absol was having a slightly harder time. He actually had a small tornado, and was launching blasts of razor sharp air at anything that made a sound. He wasn't that good at aiming, but the effects were catastrophic whenever he hit something. When he turned toward them, Austin could see that he had a bandage wrapped around his eyes under his fur. The Zangoose simply ran up to them and picked them up, sticking them underneath her shoulders. The skitty squirmed for a second, then resigned to her position. "Come on." She said, turning out. "Krys, which way's the exit?"

"Straight, straight, right, left, straight." The skitty rattled off.

"Wait!" They turned, or rather the Zangoose turned, and the other two had to. "Ill be right back." Austin sprinted down the hallway he remembered being drug through after he had to surrender his notes. He practically tore the door from its hinges, and grabbed all the notes he could find on the sableye's plans. He grabbed his notes too, and a few extra random pieces of paper for good measure. He wanted his month of captivity to be for something. Austin shoved the unwieldy bundle of paper in a messenger bag some careless pokemon had left on the table, and raced out the room. He quickly got to the waiting Zangoose, Absol and Skitty. The Zangooses eyes lit on the messenger bag.

"Good. Lets go." They sprinted down the hallway. Straight. Straight. Right. Left. Straight. They burst out of the prison onto a windy balcony.

"Xena…" The skitty trailed off.

"I've got this." The Zangoose inserted two clawed fingers into her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. There was silence, and Xena whistled again. A large Skarmory swooped onto the balcony.

"Apologies, Razor. I had… some business to take care of."

"Well make it your business to get us out of here now!" The Skitty cried, and the skarmory bowed his head, allowing them to climb onto his back. "We have twenty sableye closing on our location!" She panicedly notified Xena. The zangoose nodded.

"Lets go, Karma." The skarmory lifted into the air. Austin turned and he could see sableye congregating on the balcony, shouting at them. He never wanted to see another Sableye again. They glided above the barren wasteland that, a few years ago, had been a forest plentiful in apples and oran berries. Now all of the trees had been stripped of all their berries, and only burnt husks remained.

"We've got company!" The Skitty shouted fearfully, gesturing with her tail toward a small orange blip on the ground. The small orange blip sent a column of flame toward them, hitting Karma's wing. The metal bird screeched and they started falling.

"Grab onto someone!" The zangoose ordered, grabbing onto Austin's paw. Krys latched herself onto the sickle shaped horn on Jade's head. She reached for the absol, but he was too far away. Xena turned away from him and launched a water pulse, rocketing her toward him. She latched onto him. The skarmory righted himself and dove to catch them. He grabbed onto the scruff of the absol's neck, and furiously pumped his wings, trying to gain the altitude that would be their only protection from that pokemon.

"I can't hold all of you!" Jade cried.

"You have to!" Xena shouted back, her grip tightening. Austin looked down, and immediately wished he didn't. The ground, so far away just a minute ago, was rushing up quickly. Austin looked back up at the absol, Jade, and could see the physical and emotional exertion evedent on his face. "Come on, You can do it!" But the Lucario could tell that he couldn't keep it up much longer. Austin glanced at the ground once again and came to a decision. With the hand that wasn't being grasped by Xena, he grabbed the the messenger bag he had nabbed. Looping the strap around his paw, he pulled himself up and bit her paw, making her involuntarily let go. He threw the bag up at her, and was glad to see she caught it. Her face was desperate, then angry, then horrified, sad. "No!" She shouted, trying to grab his paw. He fell down, twisting so he landed correctly. The ground hit him like a brick wall, and he collapsed before standing back up to face a very angry Tysplosion. It roared, its mane of flames growing. The lucario turned and ran, the giant tysplosion charging behind him. It roared, and shot a pillar of flames at Austin. They grazed his right side, and he had to roll to put them out. The typlosion leaped on him, its claws ripping his flesh. Finally, satisfied he was dead, it stood up and lumbered off.

* * *

Everything was fading. It was dark. A blurry brown shape kept nudging him. Telling him not to give up. That help was on the way. He wanted it all to end. He wanted everything to fade. He wanted to die. He wanted to give up. But some long forgotten memory kept telling him that he could still do it. That he could live. He didn't want to though. He had done his part in life. He wanted to give up. And he did.

And then he died.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to all of the wonderful people over at the NaNoWriMo Chatzy chatroom for forcibly making me do sprints. Over. And over. And over again. Special shout out to SingSong, AuroraKitty and LeoneXIII. Very special shout out to YuukixMitsuru for commenting! Now, I shall shut up and let you all read.

* * *

"What?!" Grovyle turned to her incredulously.

"Yeah." She said, looking at him curiously. "I mean, not by blood, I was adopted obviously, and I'm sure its not direct bloodline, but its cool! Even though it makes Sableye sure I'm a hunter." She paused, then added offhandedly. "Which I guess I am now."

Grovyle glanced at her, barely hiding his surprise. "You are?"

She turned to him, and said in a duh voice "I'm trying to get the same thing you were, albeit unconsciously, and I was doing it wrong, but the goal was the same."

Grovyle paused, considering the fact. It was true, but he still couldn't see a kid being a hunter. Hunters had an extremely short life expectancy, being chased by Sableye all the time. He knew that any responsible person would tell her to wait a few years. He also knew that she might be dead in a few years. He might be dead in a few years. No one ever had time anymore.

"I… I want to join you." She admitted, shuffling her feet.

"You... What?"

"I want to join you" She said simply. Grovyle stared at her.

"But... you're just a kid."

"And I've almost died a dozen times already. There is not 'safe place' anymore."

Grovyle pondered it. He was the first one to find a time gear in the last hundred years. Exploud and Sunflora had been rumored of finding some of them, but no one was certain of that. He didn't have to side with her. They could just go their separate ways still.

"You've found a time gear, I have too. We're even." Ally said, glancing at his face and reading it easily. "I can help you find the areas with the time gears. You know the history of the time gears. You know what the things I'm seeing are. We need each other. Stop being stubborn and see it makes sense."

"I still don't want to." Grovyle replied stubbornly. Ally laughed.

"We both know I can't fight to save my life, literally. But I can keep myself alive. I've been doing it since I was six. Do you think that being a hunter will shorten my life expectancy any more? Besides, I'm becoming one anyway, and you can't stop that. I think its better to have a short life where you do something worthwhile rather than a long, boring one. I'd rather shine than be..." She picked up a rather large stone. "A rock. I'd rather be a tiny diamond then a big rock."

Grovyle considered it. He half wanted to deny her just because she was younger then him, but the rational side of him forced him to consider it. It would be helpful. The legendary ability dimensional scream was thought to have died out years ago. Apparently not. They could see into the past and the future. That WAS something to ask.  
"Dimensional scream makes you see into the future and the past, What have you seen for the future?"

"Huh?" Ally asked, turning to him quizzically. "Well, the first time I saw this worl-time period was this morning, when I saw you getting the time gear. I don't think I've ever seen into the future."

"Weird." Grovyle pondered. _Did that mean that someone'll succeed? That everything will…_ Ally could imagine him scratching an invisible beard, and involuntarily giggled. "What?" Grovyle shot back. "All what I did was say weird." _And think about what would happen if I was to succeed._

"Nothing" Ally finally managed to choke out through fits of giggles. That was when Grovyle first realized it. He needed that kid. He needed a ten year old kid. He needed someone with that ability. He needed someone, and that was enough to make him feel appalled at the idea. He forced himself to consider it, and found himself liking the prospect more and more. She could find the time gears, and he knew what they did. It was perfect.

"Deal." He said.

"What?" Ally asked, head cocked. Grovyle realized that he was completely off topic.

"You can be my partner."  
"Oh no, I don't want to be your partner." Ally looked appalled at his suggestion. "I want to be a freaking team, Is that too much to ask?"

"Fine. A team." Grovyle said glumly. Ally extended a hand.

"Hunters pride?"

"That isn't even a thing." Grovyle retaliated, climbing to his feet. "We should get moving. We could get kicked out of this dungeon any second now."

Ally mumbled something that he couldn't hear and was pretty sure he didn't want to. He vaguely caught the word cocky, and decided that he was right not to have wanted to hear it. Grovyle paced around the room.

"You looking for something?" Ally asked, glancing around.

"Some sort of warp stone. All dungeons have it at the exit."

"You mean this?" Ally pointed to a normal rock on the floor. On closer inspection, the rock had a ring shape with an extremely smooth texture. "Yes, If we touch that, we should be warped out of the dungeon. Bit like a warp orb, Warps you in a radius around the dungeon."

"I don't need to be spoon fed information, I can connect the dots myself." Ally replied shortly. She was silent for a second, staring at the warp stone. "Um… Could that espeon figure out where we are going to warp to?" Ally asked, ashamed.

"No, as I just said" Grovyle said triumphantly. "We'll be warped in a ring around the dungeon. But, if we touch it at the same time, we should be warped to the same place." He paused for a moment, then added uncertainty. "At least I think so."

"Shut up, You're making me nervous. On three?"

Grovyle nodded, then started counting. "One. Two. Three!" They both touched the ring like stone, and suddenly found themselves in a flat, dead plain.

"I thought you were wrong for a second." The kid joked, shoving him. Grovyle grinned.

"Where to next, oh guide?"

The kid slid her backpack off her shoulders and rummaged thorough it, finally pulling out a map. "Any of these points." Ally gestured to a few areas with loads of little star marks.

Grovyle slid out his own map, layering it over Ally's and holding it up. "Okay, how can you even read that thing?" Ally interjected exasperated. "I can barely even see the coastline!"

"Practice at actually reading maps." Grovyle replied. He had to admit though, It was easier to read her map. His map was more informational though.

"There! Whats there?" Ally asked, gesturing to a patch of star marks.

"Deepwood mere. Seems to be a pretty deserted place, from my notes" Grovyle answered, one clawed finger tracing his own notes.

"How can you even read that? Its illegible."

"Says the person who... Uh..." Grovyle trailed off, not being able to come up with a good enough insult.

"See? You subconsciously agree with me. Your handwriting is illegible. Who even taught you?"

"Actually, I taught myself." Grovyle said proudly, letting go of his map with a snap. He shoved it back into his bag unceremoniously.

"Really?" Ally asked, interested.

"Both footprint and scratch."

"Bet scratch was first." Ally answered, sticking out her tongue. Scratch was by far the easier language, all letters were in straight lines, which made them look like chicken scratch. Footprint was by far harder, each footprint a letter. Scratch was a language that existed very long ago, so long ago in fact no one knew where it originated form. Logs were scratched in a pattern, and that was most tribes primary way of communicating. Scratching letters into trees, dirt, or laying sticks on the ground to form letters. Ingenious really. Much quicker then unknownscript. Footprint was much more complicated, and had only been introduced in the last three hundred years, One hundred years before the planets paralysis. Delicate pokemon footprints were carved into stone, usually depicting tribal stories or traditions. Scratch was still a primary form of getting the message across, but footprint was used as an art form. Not that many languages were used nowadays. Most information was passed along orally now. That meant that information could die quickly, get distorted, or simply disappear. Not a very reliable form of communication, but it got the job done. Languages were the same. There were seventeen languages, for each of the different types. then one other, commontounge. Commontounge was by far the easiest language to learn, as it combined parts of all seventeen languages, from dark to psychic, grass to fire. The hisses and clicks from bug, the rasps of dark, the whistling quality of flying, all were combined into a frenzy of noises.

"Yeah." Grovyle replied, for lack of a better response. "I know how to speak water though."

"I know how to speak all of the languages. I don't know footprint though." Ally replied, shuffling her feet. Grovyle stared at her. Learning all of the languages was an incredible feat, even before the planets paralysis. Especially for a ten year old.

"Well I know how to write footprint." Grovyle boasted.

Ally laughed. "Hold onto that sense of superiority."

Grovyle sneered at her jokingly. "You just like using big words to make yourself sound more important."

Ally raised her hands in a 'I surrender' stance. "You got me. I don't know what I'm talking about." She paused, then said something in a series of hisses and clicks.

"Oh come on." Grovyle clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Hold on to that sense of superiority."

* * *

Ally was starting to like him, now that they weren't in a life or death scenario. He responded correctly when she spoke bug at him. He was genuinely witty. She thought that they could become good friends. Just for a second. Then the real world came flooding back in. There was no good friends. Only temporary alliances. No friends. Just temporary truces for their own benefit. Even what she had said had been a breach of the rules she had set for herself. _You know what to say and I know how to say it._ She couldn't trust anyone. But at the same time she was asking to become a team with him. How could she maintain the precarious level of trust she needed to stay alive and still have a partner. She could never depend on him. She could never need him. Grovyle read her face. "Come on." He said shortly, standing up. "Lets go."

They traipsed northwest until what passed as sunset for this world. They covered plains and forests, miles and kilometers in silence. Neither of them wanted to break it. This was the balance of survival. Silence. Independence. Loneliness. Untrusting. Cold. They covered distance quickly, and Grovyle was surprised at the kids stamina. she didn't complain, moan, wine, or anything. She just kept plodding along. Little did he know that her feet were swelling in her cotton shoes, her soles starting to turn bloody. She just never voiced it. If she did, it would tip the balance of survival. She would be asking for help. That was something that was unacceptable in this world. Help was never wanted. Silence, Independence, Loneliness were what kept you alive. "How did it all happen?" Ally suddenly, as they entered another forest.

"What?"

"How did the world get paralyzed?" That was a safe question. It was a trading of information, not a wish for help.

Grovyle looked interested in her choice of words. "How'dja know it got paralyzed? Most people say frozen." That was a fair point, since temperatures around the world had dropped significantly since the world got paralyzed. Ally shrugged.

"That's what dad always said happened. My parents were hunters. The planet got paralyzed, and... well... this happened." She gestured to the whole planet. That gesture meant more than the three sentences she said. It explained more than all of the words she could have said in Ice to fire. This whole world was broken, the gesture said, and we turned cold. We turned away from each other. We had to rely on balance for protection.  
"Legendarys. That's how this happened. Stupid legendarys." Grovyle started passionately. This was going to be an interesting few minutes, Ally decided.

* * *

"Legendarys are created from calamities that could be stopped. Mistakes that couldn't be avoided. Arceus created legendarys to fix these problems. Sucune was created because pokemon ran out of clean water. Groudon and Kyogre were created to make land and sea. Mew was created as an ambassador to all pokemon, and was the basic genetic code for almost all of us. But you cant just have a god blip into existence, could you? All of the time gears would be summoned to that location. To give them a past in the world. It was smart. It worked magnificently. Until one legendary pokemon. Dialga. Dialga was to become the ruler of time, because apparently creating pasts for pokemon could create some paradoxes. It was to be Dialga's job to sort that out. Unfortunately, the time gears were summoned to his position, but, he created his own past himself. The time gears, their job done for them, dropped to the ground, their innate energy creating bountiful forests, growing crystals, and creating magnificent wonders of lakes to conceal the gears. The pokemon were amazed at what they thought was a gift from the gods. Arceus, seeing that time was still flowing fine, didn't see the need to move them. They were gradually forgotten. Time kept flowing. Dialga made his own temple, which made time flow on its own. He appealed to Arceus, saying that the time gears were affecting his own towers job to regulate time, and that they should be destroyed. Arecus half agreed, seeing that they were making a dimensional disturbance, but he also saw the possibility that they might need to be reactivated. So he created a dais where, if all five time gears were inserted, they would retake the flow of time, and Dialga's tower would be nothing more than that. Just a tower. Dialga was outraged with this, and, using his own power, made it so Arceus was.. lets just say.. busy for the next thousand or so years."

"He sent him forward in time."

"Yes. Dialga was a stupid ignorant idiot. Arceus couldn't do anything to stop it. Dialga's tower slowly collapsed, as towers do. No one remembered that if you put the time gears on the dais, they would retake control of time. No one remembered. No one bothered with history. Just because of stupid forgetfulness, the whole world died."

"So, is that what we're trying to do? Piece together the gears and put them in the dais?" Ally asked.

"That wouldn't work. Temporal tower's dais has been completely destroyed for two hundred years now. Even if it was in good position, We could never get all of the gears."

The kids shoulders slumped, but her pace didn't slacken. "What are we trying to do then? All of this information, and my ability are only useful in the past. They wont even do anything now."

Grovyle looked at her, and told her the one sliver of hope he had been clinging on to for the last six years. "Have you ever heard of a pokemon called Celibi?"

* * *

Feel free to shout out any grammar mistakes you see. I have no grammar whatsoever.


	4. Chapter 4

Happy birthday to Asile! Okay, nothing important. Except my word count is OVER NINE THOUSAND.

Im sorry...

...Ill just shut up now...

...Just read the fanfic.

* * *

"Celibi? What's that?"

"Who's that." Grovyle corrected. "Celibi was created by Dialga, which, while it has happened before" he coughed. "Phione" he coughed again. "It was strange for a legendary other than Arceus to create another legendary. Celibi was created to fix any mistakes in time that Dialga had neglected to. Pretty much a failsafe. Unfortunately, Celibi has been missing for the last three hundred years. No one knows anything about her whereabouts. Finding Celibi is Dialga's top priority right now."

"He cant find the legendary he created?" Ally asked, perplexed. "Shouldn't he have some special ability to track her or something since he created her?"

"Of course you forgot that she can travel through time. He CAN track her while she's in the same timeline as him, but evidently, she spends very little time in this timeline. My hope is to find all the time gears and catch Celibi in the short time that she is in this timeline."

"But there isn't any reason for her to come to this timeline, is there?" Ally asked.

Grovyle felt the small pang of fear that he always felt whenever he considered this possibility. "She has to. She must. Or else we're all doomed." We're all doomed anyways. We all died long ago. Two hundred years ago we died. When time froze, the planets spinning slowed. We all died then. We're doing to die either way, if we succeed, or if we don't. If we succeed, timelines will change, if we don't, we'll become like the rest of them. We'll just be frozen.

"Okay." Ally knew the necessity of hope. It was all what kept people like them chugging on. If they lost hope… She didn't want to think about it. She glanced to the west, and saw a ruddy yellow glow snaking its way through the thick cloud cover. "Sunset." She said, pointing to the clouds.

Grovyle nodded, then pointed at a mostly hidden cave three quarters up the next bluff. "We'll camp there." Ally nodded. At the thought of camp, the sores on her feet started protesting again.

"Shut up." She muttered quietly. Grovyle glanced at her quizzically, half hearing what she said. "Nothing." She said, continuing to climb the bluff. The bluff, which looked at first glance devoid of pokemon, was in fact, full of small pokemon. Rattata, Bidoof, Pidgey, and Ally was sure that she spotted a shinx at one point. She shivered, and hoped that she wouldn't become a Luxray's dinner in the middle of the night. Grovyle expertly navigated the wilderness, taking a direct but inconspicuous route up to the cave. The cave couldn't really be called a cave, Ally decided once she got a better look. It was more a shallow depression with a slight overhang.

Grovyle shrugged. "I hoped it would be a bit deeper, but this'll work." He shrugged off his bag and Ally did the same. "Want to take first watch?" He asked.

Ally looked at him. "No, you can take it." She said sweetly, gesturing to him in an offhand manner.

Grovyle laughed and took up a position on what passed for the edge of the cave. "You're so kind." She snickered and curled into a ball to sleep. She went to sleep incredibly quickly, and Grovyle was going through his bag to make sure she hadn't taken anything when he spotted the dark red patches on the bottom of her shoes. He quietly put down his bag and ghosted toward her to examine her shoes. Simple cotton boots went good for running across the country. He winced inwardly at the blood. That must have hurt. A lot. He wondered why he had never asked how she was doing during the running, then he remembered that he had liked her silence. She was silent because she didn't want him to know about this. He sighed. She might just be more stubborn than he was. He paced back to his position by the entrance of the cave. She could either ask him for help or just keep on doing this. He wondered if she would ask for help, but decided that she probably wouldn't. She probably would just keep running, uncomplainingly until she dropped. He admired her steadfast stupidity. She was stubborn. She had the grit you needed to survive in this world. He stared out the cave at the frozen world. He could never tell her that he admired her though. That would be a show of weakness, and he couldn't afford that. Grovyle wondered for a moment how the world before it go paralyzed was. Was it still hiding your weakness, or was it more open, more trusting? He would probably never know. The chance that Celibi would just happen to visit him in his, most likely very short, lifetime was almost nothing. Almost. There was still a chance, and as long that there was a chance, he was going to keep trying. As long as there was a chance, he would always find the energy to keep going. He would always try harder. He would never give up while he still had a chance to save the world. If this little kid was a key part in doing that, then it might be beneficial to side with her. He leaned back against the cave wall, resigned to four hours of boredom.

* * *

Ally wasn't really sleeping. Eyes almost fully closed, she stared through her eyelashes at Grovyle as he ghosted toward her, then back to his perch. If he was going to attack her, it would have made sense to attack her then. So he wasn't going to attack her. But why had he walked up to her, then back again. She didn't know what he was doing. What game was he playing at. She lay, silent for the next few minutes. Then she finally dropped off to sleep.

* * *

A ghost was phasing though the walls. Grovyle, not knowing what a ghost phasing sounded like, assumed that it was simply another small pokemon outside their cave. It wasn't. The ghost grasped the child's arm and phased her into the wall with him. The ghost considered for a moment simply letting go of her arm, and dropping her into the stone, letting her die. That was a sad way to die, but not a bad one. There was no feeling, just an instant death, but the ghost didn't care. However, he had a mission. And he was going to fulfill it. He glided, girl in tow, through the bluff, his fingers tracing her now icy skin. Phasing wasn't healthy for any pokemon except pure ghost types. Even sableye only phased when they had to. He finally phased out of the wall, and held the small girl in his arms, careful not to wake her up. That would be disastrous, if she were to wake up. The whole plan would fall apart. Her new 'friend' still didn't know that she was gone. The ghost wanted to keep it that way. He could have grabbed the Grovyle too, but his mission was for the girl, not the reptile. She was enough. She would get him what he needed. He needed to beat that stupid Bandit. He needed to beat her, for reasons he could never tell anyone. He needed that. She was his key piece, his essential queen in chess. She was everything.

Time to report back.

* * *

It was time for her watch, and Grovyle knew it. He felt that she should rest for longer, but he knew that he couldn't keep awake much longer. He was a pokemon, and that meant that he had higher energy reserves then humans, but that didn't mean that they were limitless. They could still get tired, as he was right then. Dead tired. He glanced behind him, softly calling "Ally?" No response. There was still a gray lump where she had been sleeping, so he didn't worry that she had disappeared. He didn't want to startle her though. Last time he startled someone when they were sleeping, they almost punched him in the face. Not a good idea. "Ally?" he called louder, pacing toward her. She didn't move. He reached out a hand and shook her, only to feel course fabric. her bag. "Shoot!" He cried, whirling around. She couldn't be hiding, could she? But where could she be? Grovyle put his head in his hands and groaned. Had she somehow slipped out when he was on guard? But how could she have? He needed to find her, ASAP. Grovyle dug though her bag to try to find anything of use, and his hand curled around an active orb. The orb was hot to touch and showed two beacons. Both of the beacons were faint, but still easily seeable. The Radar orb! Grovyle swung both of their bags onto his shoulder and sprinted out the cave, barely getting his bearings before sprinting to the east. He had to find that kid. He doubted that she would run away. She was his key to finding all the time gears. So what if he was tired, he would keep trying for as long as there was a chance.

* * *

He was there. The ghost was surrounded by sableye, but he felt safe around them. He knew them. They were his friends now. They secured the girl, and he ghosted up the stairs to give his report. He reached the top of the ruined tower. "Master Dialga?" He called. A roar of displeasure answered him. "I have the girl." He said simply. The time dragons head appeared, red eyes glowing. The time dragon was monstrous, its body criss crossed with glowing red lights like magma. The dragon nodded, pleased.

A Espeon dragged itself up the stairs. Its coat, which should be a shimmering pink, was cut and torn in numerous places, there was a new nick in her ear, and her coat seemed coated in a new coat of grime. "I see you have already gotten here." She seethed at the ghost. The ghost said nothing in reply, just smiling politely. She addressed the dragon. "I lost the grovyle. We know the approximate location of them, both the girl and the reptile, Dialga." It nodded its head absently.

The ghost found a way to one up his rival. "I know the exact location of the girl, and I know where the grovyle is going to be going."

The Espeon turned to him, a lip turned up in a sneer. "And how do you know that, ghost?"

"I have the girl."

The espeon looked surprised, and mad at the same time. "You have her? Do you have the Grovyle?"

The ghost smiled politely. "I thought that was your job, wasn't it Bandit?"

Bandit hissed at him. Dialga roared. "Master Dialga, please excuse my ineptitude." She said appeasingly. "I shall find the Grovyle and bring him to you personally." That seemed to appease the dragon, at least some of its anger faded.

"Might I ask." The ghost started politely "If we could talk about what to do with the child?"

"Let me torture her!" The espeon jumped at the opportunity to redeem herself. "I could get so much information out of her!"

The ghost cut across her. "If I may, Master Dialga, I have another suggestion." The dragon turned to him. "From my… contact with her, I noted that she seemed particularly scared of fire."

"Then let me make her feel like she's being burned alive! If you let me in close contact with her, I can replay her worst memory again and again! I can mentally break her until she's willing to do whatever we wish of her!"

"I have another idea entirely." Both the fox and the dragon turned to him. "Her worst fear is fire. What if she… dies in fire? Say, if she was, for example, burned at the stake? She might say things she wouldn't... say on a regular basis. Plus, it would be getting her back for letting that Grovyle escape." he addressed Bandit. "And yes, I did see that. Unfortunate." The espeon hissed at the ghost.

"You might be a dead dusclops soon." The ghost laughed.

"We'll see about that." The ghost addressed Dialga again. "Do you agree, master?"

The dragon nodded absently. "DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER USE FOR HER?"

"She will be as much of a beacon for Grovyle dead as alive, and dead she doesn't have a possibility of escaping."

The dragon nodded. "Burn her."

* * *

Ally knew something was wrong before she opened her eyes, so she didn't open her eyes. She tried very hard to stare through her eyelids, and since that didn't work, listened very hard. She could hear scuffling every once and a while, and muttering in dark. Every once an a while, she thought that she heard a bit of ghost, but she really couldn't be sure. She felt ropes binding her to some sort of column though. That wasn't good. She thought back. Why would she be tied to a column? Last she remembered, she was falling asleep in the cave with Grovyle. Had he ratted her out? No, he couldn't have. At least, she didn't want to believe he did. She very much hoped he didn't.

"I know you are awake, child." The voice startled her, and she opened her eyes accidentally. She saw a ghost type pokemon, standing in front of her, arms crossed. "We would be best without lying, so I shall tell you some truths, and you tell me some of yours, deal?" Ally made sure to not move her head, but glanced around. She was in some sort of stone podium, tied to a stone column with giant cracks spider-webbing across its surface. She spread her fingers, trying to find a fatal flaw in the engineering of the pillar, but to no avail. "There is no escape, Ally." The voice said as politely as you can to someone who you have kidnapped and tied to a pillar. "You might as well answer my questions."

"As if I'm going to answer your questions!" Ally spat at him. "Over my dead body!"

The ghost looked disappointed. "I was hoping you wouldn't be stubborn. I can tell you are never going to tell me this."

"Well, At least you aren't an idiot!" She spat back at him, fingers desperately trying to fray the rope, trying to rip it, trying to do anything to break it at least.

"You cannot escape." The ghost said, and revealed a handful of flames. "You can either die your most feared death, or simply tell me what you know, and I will give you the least painful death possible. Phasing."

The girl looked terrified at the possibility of perishing in flame. The ghost relished her fear. That was his best ally right now. He knew that scared people made stupid mistakes, mistakes that they wouldn't normally make. This was his way to break her.

"Either way, You will die. Your choice." He held his palm closer to the ropes. The girl threw her body against the other side of the ropes, trying fruitlessly to break the ropes. "You cannot break out that way. There is no escape. Death is the only choice. Give up." The girl's eyes hardened, her body stiffened, her shoulders rolling back. Her breathing slowed. She stood as erect as she could be while tied to a pillar, and uttered a few words that would be echoed throughout time.

"We can still do this."

"Stupid girl."


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the short chapter, I didn't get much writing done today. Oh, congradulations to Amandolin for reaching 50,000 words in five days!

* * *

Grovyle sprinted across the dry brush, ignoring the strange looks that the got from the native pokemon. He had to find her. He just had to. It was just something that needed to be done. Like fixing time. It was just... the right thing to do. His feet propelled himself across the ground. All his previous tiredness forgotten, he raced to find the girl. The kid. The child. Ally.

* * *

The ghost put his hand on the rope and a purplish flame erupted from it. Will o wisp. The child screamed in terror and tried in vain to throw herself away from the flame. She didn't want to die like this. She didn't want to die like this. She didn't want to die like this. She didn't. She didn't. She didn't. The ghost felt no pity for her. She needed to die to advance his plans. She needed to die.

* * *

Ally's brain was a screaming, the words reverberating around her head, getting louder until she was deaf. She couldn't hear anything. She was going to die. She didn't want to die. The fire was burning though the rope, burning her, burning her, killing her, killing her. THINK she screamed to herself. THINK. The fire was burning through the rope! She tried wiggling again, trying to loosen the rope, and found that it was looser. The world was still deafening, but she could at least hear herself think now. This is how you get out, She told herself. This is how you free yourself. If you break free of the rope, you can get out of here. One step at a time. Just keep trying. Ally threw herself against the part of the rope that was burning. There was a cracking noise, and the ropes severed. Ally sprinted past the ghost, desperately trying to find a way out. There had to be a way out. There just had to be. She passed sableye after sableye. All what she wanted to do was escape. She wanted to escape.

* * *

Her beacon was moving! She was still alive! Too bad the radar orb didn't show terrain. Grovyle had to stop at a ravine and work his way around it. He had to get to the kid though. It was the right thing to do. The good thing. That's all.

* * *

The ghost was tailing her, she knew it. She didn't need to look behind her to sense him. He could phase thorough walls to cut her off, and she knew that too. She just hoped that she was going the right way. Sableye certainly seemed to not want her to be going this way. Ally rounded a corner to face three sableye that centrally knew what they were doing. One, the one in the middle, had two different colored gems for eyes. he was obviously the leader. The two on either side of him looked remarkably alike, all of their gems seemed to be the same color, like they were related. Mismatched started charging up a shadow ball, and the two sableye on either side of him imitated him. Ally had to launch herself the the side to escape the balls of shadow. She got closer to them, and heard the middle sableye hiss to the other two in dark "Claw." The other two nodded almost imperceptibly and their claws started glowing a bright black. Ally ducked and delivered a wince worthy roundhouse kick to one of the lookalike sableye. It crumpled. The other got into her ack with Its claws, and she whirled around, elbowing it in the gut before she had to turn to the mismatched. Mismatched seemed to be charging up a different attack than the other. Ally threw a wild side kick and made Mismatched stumble backwards. That was the opening she needed to continue running. Ally ran away, toward where she hoped was the exit. The sores on her feet reopened, sending shafts of pain up from her feet. Her back was bleeding badly, and she knew it. No time to treat wounds. She had to keep running. She had to escape. She heard a familiar crackling noise somewhere ahead, and then stopped dead in her tracks. A ghost detached itself from the wall.  
"Thought you would come this way." The Dusclops said, smiling maliciously.

* * *

She had stopped. That either meant that she had found a safe place, or... something bad. Grovyle hoped desperately that she had found a save place, even as unlikely as it was. He wanted her to be safe. Perhaps two hundred years in the dark hadn't completely destroyed pokemon's sympathy. Empathy. Words that were never used anymore because they were words of weakness. How can we be strong if we don't even act pokemon anymore, he wondered. He hadn't encountered any hostile pokemon, which was good. He hoped that they just hadn't gotten the word that he was rocketing across the plain, dead straight toward his target. Any, even an incompetent tracker could track him, or just tell where he was going from his arrow straight path. But this was the fastest way to get there, and time was everything. Grovyle almost smiled at that. In a world where time is paralyzed, time is still everything.

* * *

Ally almost wept at the sight of the ghost. She could see the outside, the freedom, the paradise behind him. Forget the fact that everything was dead, that world was beautiful to her right then. But she couldn't reach it. She wouldn't ever be able to reach it. The ghost stood there patiently. "I was sure you would come this way. Stupid child. Don't you know I can phase?"  
She had an idea. A very stupid idea that would most likely get her killed, but an idea. She raised both hands in a fighting stance.  
"Oh, you want to fight me? How sweet. Did you forget that I was a ghost type? You may be able to fight those sableye, as they never phase, but have you never realized that I am actually capable of phasing?"  
Ally took a few steps back, and kicked off her woolen shoes. They would only hamper her here. She took a deep breath, then exhaled.  
She sprinted toward the ghost.

* * *

She was moving. Really fast. If that was good or bad, Grovyle had no idea. Just that she was moving. That was good. She was still alive. That could also mean that she was dead, and someone was simply moving her body, but... no. She was moving too quickly for that. It was like she was running kamikaze toward something. But why? Grovyle suddenly felt the frustration that she must feel all the time, being able to see things, but not knowing what they mean. Knowing, but not truly knowing.

* * *

The ghost simply reached both hands toward her, ready to phase her into the ground as soon as she touched him. Stupid girl. Even if he only phased her foot into the ground before he broke touch with her, didn't she realize that she would still die? Stupid girl.

* * *

Ally sprinted toward the ghost. Fifteen feet away. Ten. Five. The ghost reached his hands toward her. She knew what he was going to do. She took a deep breath.  
She stumbled, then launched herself at the ghost. The ghost phased right before she hit him, and she soared through his half visible body. Ally landed hard on her side, but jackknifed back to her feet. She sprinted away, but couldn't resist casting a glance back at the ghost. The ghost floated out of the ground, positively glowing with rage. "YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS." He roared, unphasing himself and sprinting after her. She turned and ran, her feet pounding against the ground. She was never going to do that again. Never. That was a stupid idea that could have gotten her killed. Never again.

* * *

She had stopped for a moment, then started moving again. Why was she moving so fast? Grovyle wondered. She probably couldn't keep up this pace for too long. She could be riding on something, but that was extremely unlikely. He wondered if she had gotten a hold of a quick seed somehow, then dismissed the thought. Quick seeds were extremely rare, and very useful. Too bad he didn't have any. His feet were starting to feel raw, and his mind was starting to wander at random times. He was tired, but he knew that he would keep running until he dropped. Stubborn. That's what he was. Stubborn. Stupidly stubborn.

* * *

She was sprinting trough a light pine forest, the needles aggravating her already painful sores on her feet. Each step was agony, but she kept on running. As long as she was alive, she still had a chance to do something good in this world. If she died, that's all what she would be. A corpse. A dead body to bury, or burn, or toss into the ocean. She would be nothing more. Nothing. A branch whipped by and stung her in the face, ripping her out of her thoughts. She had to stay focused. She had to get out of here. She had to survive.


	6. Chapter 6

Kudos to SingSong, Fyrelass and Sami-Fire for building a orange wall. Also, Kudos to Sami for just being freaking awesome.

* * *

Grovyle was getting closer to her. Each time he had to move to get around a pile of rocks or ravine, he could see the difference magnified. He was getting closer. He just needed to find had to. It was just... the right thing to do.

* * *

She had no idea where she was going. Each step was torture, but teh idea of stopping was worse. She had to eep going. Or else she would die. She knew that she was being tracked. She only hoped that it wasn't from the ghost. That it was some other pokemon that was tracking her, for some strange reason. She hoped that they were, because if she were to die, she didn't want to die at the ghost's hands. She didn't want to die in a fire, and for good reasons.

* * *

The ghost had lost her. He could only sense her fears for so far away, and she had crossed out of that range. Thankfully, it seemed someone else was only too keen to redeem themselves.

* * *

The pup was an idiot. The ghost was an idiot. The grovyle was an idiot. She was in a world surrounded by idiots that always were better off than she was. It wasn't fair, but that was against the point. She would finally be able to prove that she was better than all of them. She had a psychic lock on the girl, and could follow it easily. She would capture the girl, then bring her back to base, as proof of the ghosts stupidity. Then she would wait for the grovyle to come, and kill him at her own leisure. Then, she could kill the girl. She would no longer be a part of her problem. Even if this world was full of idiots, it was her job to protect them.

She was going to make sure that none of these 'hunters' could kill her kits.

* * *

He was close. Grovyle knew it, and not just because he had a orb that showed him a beacon of her location, he could hear her crashing through the brush. She sounded like a angry tarous in a jungle. Crash, crash, rustle. Crash.

"Ally!" He called.

* * *

Ally could hear her name being called, and stopped short. Was it the ghost? Was it the espeon? What was it? Sableye? She pivoted in a circle, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. The voice came again from her right. Okay, not going that direction. She picked a direction that was going toward neither of them, then set off in a sprint.

* * *

The beacon was moving away! Why was that happening? Was the Radar orb starting to fail? Had he just been running in random directions for the last two hours? No, That couldn't be. He just wouldn't accept that. She had to have just... He didn't know. Been running from something else? "Ally!" he shouted. "Ally!"

* * *

They were getting closer. Ally's feet burned, like she was running on hot embers. Like she had been, long ago. Tears stung at her eyes, but she kept running. She had to stay alive. She had to. Primal instinct.

* * *

She was slowing down. He was slowly gaining ground on her. He was faster than her. His beacon was almost on top of hers. He crashed through small dead mountains of pine needles. Grovyle's dual bags thumped against him as he gained on her. He was almost on top of her.

* * *

The thing that was chasing her was almost on op of her. She wanted to turn and attack it, but she couldn't stop running away. She wanted to turn and fight, but she was too much of a coward. Something leaped atop her, and knocked her to the side. She screamed, flailing with both arms and legs, biting, scratching, aiming at the only eye presented to her.

"Why, Thanks for letting me catch up to you." Bandit hissed at her maliciously.

* * *

He heard her scream. This was too much like earlier. Him trying to find her with a radar orb, her screaming. He launched into the clearing, and then he could see them. An over sized espeon towering over the girl. Ally was flailing at her to her best abilities, hands aiming for eyes, feet aiming for the stomach. She was trying to dig her fingernails into the espeon's vulnerable eye. Trying to kick off the feline Pokemon, but to no avail. She was going to die.

The espeon's eye jewel gleamed, refracting light again and again. "Die, girl."

Grovyle rocked into the clearing, barreling into the espeon, knocking her off the kid. He stood in a ready stance, wrist leaves glowing a dark green."You have to get through me first." He said, bracing himself.

The espeon cackled maliciously. "Then so be it. " The espeon launched herself at the grass type pokemon, her tail glowing a deep purple. Bandit used psyco cut, attempting to slash the grovyle's vulnerable arm. Grovyle countered by bracing himself and using leaf blade, and the espeon's tail simply glanced off his leaves. "Humph." The espeon grunted. The espeon backed up and circled the grovyle, looking for a weak point, but didn't find one. He evidently knew how to fight, and well. The girl was stading behind him uncertainly, slingshot held loosely between the fingers of her right hand. No one wanted to make the first move. The espeon feinted forward, but Grovyle saw in her eyes that she wasn't committed, and simply stood, arms slightly limp, staring at her. Bandit nodded, satisfied.

Then attacked.

The espeon picked up stones and small branches, sometimes hurling them at Groyvle, sometimes at the girl. There was no pattern. She was making them always be on the move. They were very agile however, and they were both generally able to dodge her projectiles. She needed to make it so they couldn't see. Bandit smirked. She had just the thing. Bandit used psychic, but instead of aiming at another pokemon, she aimed at the ground, whipping up the dry dirt into a frenzy of dust, blinding the two of them. Bandit closed her singular good eye and focused on their psychic energy. The images were slightly foggy because of the sand whipping everywhere, but she could see hundred times better than either of them could. The espeon advanced again, whipping the grovyle again and again with Iron tail. Grovyle, not being able to see where she was aiming until she practically hit, couldn't do anything about it instead of retreat.

* * *

Grovyle swore and had to give ground. He had no way to counteract that tactic, and the espeon was doing him heavy damage. He had no idea when her psychic would run out of power, but didn't think he could last that long. He had to come up with another idea, and fast.

* * *

Ally was having a hard time breathing. She could hear enough occasional grunts of pain, and hisses of triumph to know that the battle wasn't going well. "Grovyle!" She wheezed, trying to find them. After almost running into a tree less than a foot away, she had to admit that wasn't going to work. Randomly running around wasn't going to do any of them any good except Bandit. Ally felt inside the pockets of her long faded sleeved shirt and found a round seed. Ally traced her finger over the letters in scratch and read 'Eyedrop Seed'. Perfect! Ally crunched the shell open and could instantly see her surroundings. Grovyle was being beaten pretty badly by Bandit, and she could see long scratches, especially on his forearms and and shoulder. Both of the bags lay abandoned on the other side of the clearing. That was her only hope of doing something. She skirted around the two fighters each singularly focused on their battle. She ripped open grovyle's bag and dug through the orbs, hoping to find something useful. About three quarters down the bag, she found the only unused orb that could be any hope to her. She only hoped she wouldn't have to use it. She didn't know if she could if she did need to. "Stop both of you!" She shouted. "Stop fighting!" She yelled. They stopped. Grovyle, blind, the espeon, eye closed, but face calculating. Ally calmly stepped between them, facing the espeon with both arms spread wide out, her face in an expression that clearly read 'If you want to get to him, your going to have to go through my dead body. "I have a one shot orb. One try to attack, Bandit, and you'll be dead." The espeon recoiled.

"You cant!" One shot orbs were almost impossible to find. They could instantly kill any pokemon that they were aimed at. Only one pokemon, so they were useless when surrounded in a group. But one on one, or two on two, on of these could really turn the divisive tide in the battle. The espeon's face turned into a sneer. "You wouldn't dare, you filthy pup."

Grovyle stood, both hands slightly raised, but knowing that he wouldn't have had a chance unless she had stepped in. He had forgotten that he even had a one shot orb in his bag. He wondered if the girl would be able to use it. It took a lot to take another pokemon's life, and you were never the same after it. It was the only way that he could see a way out of this predicament.

"Oh, I would, you filthy rag. You were trying to kill my best friend." Best friend? Grovyle felt a little guilty. Those words hadn't been used in a very long time. "You tortured me, you monster. This isn't a little game. This is real life. There is no restart. If you attack either one of us, then you will die. Done."

The espeon cocked her head. She would be taking a huge chance, that the pup wouldn't use the orb, but the reward was worth the risk. Besides, the pup was a coward. She wouldn't use it. The espeon ignited her tail in the purple flame of pysco cut. She would call the pup's bluff.

* * *

The espeon had called her bluff. She knew that she could never kill. They were doomed. Ally had only just settled herself into a fighting stance when the espeon hit her like a train, and she staggered, barely staying on her feet. The espeon came at her again, this time using her tail as a whip. Ally ducked, and rammed a closed fist at the exposed stomach. The espeon let out a oof of pain and stepped back, reevaluating her opponent. She was smart, Bandit decided. She could react. So more speed was warranted. The espeon started sending crazy blows, to the head, to the feet, to the stomach. She hit in a frenzy of fury, hitting wincingly hard. The pup crumpled over, the breath knocked out of her. Now that she was physically beaten, time to mentally beat her. Bandit forced her way into the pups memories.

* * *

Burning. Fire. Screaming. Come back. Lonely. Forgotten. Wishfull. Alone. Cold. Waiting. Dead. Frozen. Moving on.

* * *

She certainly had some... traumatic memories. Adoptive parents perishing in a fire, oh boo hoo. She did know the location of not one, but two time gears. Interesting. Something even more interesting. She had the ability dimensional scream. Bandit thought that ability had died out decades ago. Apparently not. The pup didn't know the full extent of the ability though. And the pup never would know.

* * *

Black. Blind. Line. Flash. Star. Other world. Color. Sunrise. Rain. Dim. Dark. Gray. Forgotten.

* * *

This girl was very interesting. She knew so much, but didn't know how to put the pieces together. Her ancestor was none other than Austin himself. The pokemon that her, many greats, uncle had captured himself. The one who had sacrificed himself for four pokemon that he didn't even know.

Bandit never understood why pokemon tried to fix the past. She never had seen the world before, or read about it, heard lore passed down through generations, or anything. She saw the pokemon that dubbed themselves as hunters as attempted mass murderers. She hunted and killed them as an act of self preservation. She considered herself as this world's police force. She considered herself as this world's rescue team. She was trying to save the world, couldn't they see that? Did they have to try to kill a whole worlds worth of pokemon? Her kits, yes, she had to keep her kits safe. The whole thing was outrageous. She would put a stop to all of it. She would be this world's savior. She was not heartless, like the sableye. She had learned all that she needed to know from the girl. The espeon leaped atop her, ready to do a killing strike.

* * *

Her mind was hers once again. She fought memories she had fought so hard so conceal back into the deepest dungeon of her mind. She still held the orb in her hand. The espeon's muscles bunched and she leaped, easily covering the distance between them. Bandit hit her like a bullet train, knocking the orb from her grip and tackling her to the ground. The espeon raised a paw in a furious swipe, ready to take out her throat. She was going to die.

* * *

She was going to take out the threat to this world. Her world. Espeon raised a paw in a psyco cut, ready to take out the pups throat. She never thought that saving the world would come to killing a pup. This pup did have the potential to kill everyone in this world though. Bandit wondered for a moment if she actually would be able to kill the pup. Her moment of hesitation saved Ally's life. She heard a slight crinkle of glass, then everything fizzled into blackness.

* * *

The espeon lay limp on her stomach, all fight out of her. Ally lay, paralyzed in fear. What had happened? What had she done? Why? She couldn't think. Her mind reverberated with silence. Was she… dead?

* * *

Grovyle blinked sand out of his eyes, and then he saw it. The girl, still laying under the still, limp, dead form of an espeon. Bandit. Bandit was dead. He raced over, pulling the cat pokemon off his partner. "Are you okay?" He asked. The girl didn't get up. She lay, pale, shaking, still. When she finally spoke, her voice was dry with fear.  
"Did… Did I kill her?" Ally asked. Grovyle nodded. A tear rolled down her cheek, but her face remained the same. Grovyle held out a hand, but she ignored it and climbed to her feet. "She's… dead?" Grovyle nodded again. She started crying, but tried to hide it. Grovyle laid a hand on her shoulder, and was surprised when she didn't shake it off. Her eyes were wide, and she stared at the limp, dead body.

* * *

Her mind was roaring with silence. "Did… Did I kill her?" She heard herself ask. "She's… dead?" She started crying, and tried to hide it out of habit. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It felt… good there. Comforting. I just killed someone. Her mind reverberated with the thought. I am a murderer. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. I just killed someone. She's dead. Dead. Dead. Deadeadeadeadead. She's dead.

"Come on, lets go." Ally heard someone mutter. She felt her feet moving of their own violation. She kept staring at the body. Still. Limp. Dead. Someones hand was on her shoulder, guiding her. She let herself be guided. She was no better than the espeon. Bandit. She was a murderer. A killer. She tripped on branches, leaves. Someone kept talking, kept asking if she was okay. She wasn't okay. She was a monster. She collapsed to the ground, shoulders heaving, throwing up everything she had eaten that day. Someone picked her up, telling her that she was going to be okay, that she would feel better. She couldn't ever imagine feeling better. She felt like she wanted to die. Everything was fading. What was it that she had told herself? Not to give up? Why? Why did she tell that to herself? What was she even fighting for anyway? To make this world a better place? That was funny. A monster trying to do good in the world. Heh. Funny.

* * *

She had fainted. Grovyle didn't know if that was a good thing or not. He hoped that it was, but he really didn't know. He wasn't an expert in these things. Just simple survival things. Can't stay in the open, find a cave or a tree to stay for the night. He didn't know how to handle emotional things. He, like almost all other pokemon in this world, tried to hide his emotions whenever possible. He had never realized… never.. thought that they were anything useful. But, after all, it was empathy that make him team up with the kid, and sympathy that made him not abandon her. Was it empathy that had made her rescue him from Bandit in the first place? What made her… trust him? Were these words that pokemon had abandoned so long ago what made them… human? Grovyle found the ravine in the ground, and followed it down to its apex, where it was covered on all sides except the entrance, and only slight leakage problems. He set the kid down, and started gathering sticks for a fire. Normally he would have judged fire to be a stupid and unnecessary risk, but he now realized its benefits. Waking up to a crackling fire would probably be good for the kid. Also, he had to admit, he was looking forward to a warm bed that night. Grovyle stacked the sticks in a rough pyramid, then cracked a blast seed in the middle of it. The sticks went up in a woof, and bam. Instant flame. He fed sticks into the blaze, enjoying it until he almost catched one of his wrist leaves on fire. Maybe the fire was banked enough. He sat against the far wall from the entrance, scraping himself a small nest of pine needles. On second thought, he scratched together another small nest for the kid and rolled her into it. He sat in his small bed. And waited. Sometimes he thought that his life would make a wonderful book, short pieces of action followed by long periods of boredom.

* * *

Someone was carrying her. Her mother. Carrying her out. Embers brushed past her face. The smoke made it hard for her to breath. She coughed and wheezed. Her mother kept on running toward the secret exit of the house. They reached the exit, and her mother set her down in the snow of ash. Her mother told her that she needed to stay there, did she understand her? She nodded. She understood. Her mother told her that she would come back. Her mother looked around for her father, then raced back into the still burning house. The house was boring profusely, and her mother had a hard time finding break in the flames to get back in. She could hear shouts of pain from inside the house. Her Mother raced back into the house, looking for her partner, not even noticing the floor burning her feet, the smoke choking her. The roof collapsed on them, and she heard the screams. But she said she would come back. She promised.  
That was the day she figured out her mother was a lier.

* * *

She was in a cave. Ally freaked out for a second, before she saw Grovyle snoring softly, leaning against the wall of the the cave. He was completely asleep. She smiled. He looked, so peaceful sleeping. Like nothing bad had ever happened. Then what she had one came rushing back to her. Her breath caught, and she stared at the fire, desperately trying hard to breath and not hyperventilate when she did manage to breath. She had killed someone. She was the evil in this world. She was the evil. She wanted to go curl into a ball and let time go by, let someone else save this world. Why was it her duty to do that? She was a monster. A child. A child monster. Why should the world be in her hands? She was nothing. A child. She climbed to her feet an ghosted out of the cave, bare feet barely making a sound on the pine needled cave floor. He had wrapped her feet in bandages, she noticed absently. She stood outside, one hand on the cave wall, her head back, staring at the perpetually gray sky. What was she fighting for anyway? Some pretty world? Why were they fighting for this? As ally stared at he sky, she made a vow. I will never kill another pokemon, human, or whatever. Never. And she knew what she had to do to make sure that she never did. If she went with Grovyle, she would just hurt more pokemon. There would some time be a scenario where she needed to kill again, and she would. She would kill again and again until it became second nature. He had almost died because of her. She wasn't going to let that happen to her friend. She ghosted back into the cave, and opened Grovyle's bag, digging trough his stuff to find travel necessities. She had just switched over five oran berries, a few bandages, and six apples when she reached the bottom of the bag, and her hand glanced against a blue stone. Her vision went black, and a white line pierced it. She didn't want this. She didn't want to be this. Just a person with an ability. But what she saw was amazing. Rainbow bubbles floating above the sea, a sea that moved! The bubbles were being blown by Krabby, and they chatted with each other while they blew the bubbles. They were doing this purely for fun. Why? Ally could see a gray cloud forming at the horizon, and sweeping over the land. It got closer, and the krabby started chattering amongst themselves, scuttling back into shelter. The gray wall rushed over the land, freezing the bubbles into space in the air. They lost their color. They turned gray. They turned cold. A pokemon raced across the beach, eyes widening when he saw the bubbles. The Riolu reached up, touching one near him. It merely floated a few inches in the air before becoming stuck in the same spot again. His eyes widened. He seemed to know what this was. He started pacing up and down the beach, and Ally noticed a stone tied with a cord around his neck. A cord with the same inscription as Grovyle described as Austin's signature. This was Austin. This was the pokemon that Grovyle admired so much. He looked just a little older than she was. He looked, scared. He was just a kid. He was just like her. His face hardened. He clutched the relic hanging by a cord around his neck. "No matter what." He muttered. "I wont give up anymore." Ally sat on the sand beside him. She thought that she would have liked him, if she had been alive two hundred years ago. The scene faded, and she was left sitting, staring at sky outside. The dull, gray clouded sky. She was glad she was alive.


End file.
